KOLKATA, Sept 9: It was an India-Pakistan duel with a difference. It happened on squash court, at Kolkata Racket Club. But there was no mistaking intensity and fierce competitive edge that characterises all contests featuring these traditional rivals on any stage. Indian, in form of Ritwik Bhattacharya, lost out in four violent games (11-10, 7-11, 9-11, 8-11) lasting an hour and four minutes, paving way for Pakistan’s Khayal Muhammad to enter semifinals of Calcutta International squash championship.

Khayal will face Malaysian top seed Mohammad Azlan Sikandar who eased past Basit Ashfaq (Pakistan) 11-3, 11-2, 11-5.

The other semifinal will pit second seed Cameron Pilley against Shahier Razik. While Pilley shut out Englishman Stacey Ross 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0) in 59 minutes, Razik ousted Alister Walker 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-2 in 55 minutes.

The spotlight on quarterfinals day was all on Ritwik-Khayal clash. Both with world ranking in the 60s, there wasn’t much to choose from in terms of talent and skill. The difference was in approach.

The tall and wiry Ritwik relied on his court-manoeuvring ability, while stocky Khayal didn’t hesitate to use his bodyweight at the slightest pretext.

Ritwik took first game after a titanic struggle. Thereafter, Khayal changed tactics and resorted to frequent blocking, arguing and questioning of calls.

It obviously got to Ritwik as he lapsed into a series of unforced errors. He got so frustrated, he copied his opponent’s methods - and failed miserably. The result was a dogfight which turned ugly far too frequently.

Top-ranked Indian admitted he lost rhythm from second game. “I couldn’t play my normal game, I was not in the zone, so you saw a lot of errors,” said Ritwik whose next events will be Hungarian Open and British Open.—PPI